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I love this quote and think it is a good reminder as to how to approach our days. Too often, we tend to focus on what is wrong with our day instead of what is good. I don’t know about you, but I want to stay away from people who are the whiners and complainers. They totally drain me of my energy. I no longer ask them”How are you?” When I used to do that, I would get a litany of how terrible their lives were, and would feel terrible after talking to them. Instead, now, I ask these people, “What’s new and good?” It’s almost like throwing a wrench into their negative brains. So, just for today, I will look at the good things in my life and notice. There is so much we have to be thankful for, and take for granted. Imagine if we did this everyday, how much happier we would be. So, just for today, notice the good and see if you can go a whole day without complaining. I promise, at the end of the day, you will feel better and if it became a habit, you would change your life and health for the better.

You thought you were done playing competitive sports. Not at all! The most demanding sport is the one that all of us who make it past 50 will play. That’s whether we want to or not and it’s starting now. Just wait until the you go to your doctor and ask what’s wrong? And then he looks at you with a smirk and says the word we all hate to hear….

It is called Aging.

The Sport of Aging has many rules, strategies, techniques, demands, and above all, is ruthless. It never stops challenging us in ways we have never experienced before. Are we going to let aging beat us up, or are we going to learn how to play the game?

Winning at Aging.

To win at the sport of aging does not mean to live forever and I’m not sure anyone would really want that. I know I wouldn’t. My husband Pat says, “he is going to live to be 200 years old because he wants to beat the Russian that supposedly lived that long.” Seriously? I told him that he might need to get another wife or two, or three, since I have no desire to join him on his competitive, patriotic journey.

Having the right Perspective.

Winning at aging is possible if we have the right perspective. What we want is to be fit and functional as we get up in years and to stay emotionally healthy. We want our minds and memories to remain sharp, to share our talents, and be valued and capable of helping others. What we don’t want, is to live long and be a burden on others or not able to enjoy our final years.

Playing the game.

How do we play the game? If you played any sport, you were required to know the rules. You learned the techniques, got your body in shape and ate to fuel your performance. You needed to learn strategies, scout your opponents and be able to deal with the ups and downs of winning and losing. You had to do all of these things to participate successfully in that sport.

Aging as a Sport.

In order to take on aging as a sport we need to reactivate our inner athlete. Perhaps all your sports training has prepared you for how you will deal with the most insidious sport of all, The Sport of Aging.

Are you ready?

The first thing that any athlete learns about the sport is the rules. Aging has a few rules that don’t change. Here are some of them:

Every living thing ages. It is a normal part of our existence.

Every part of the body and mind is vulnerable to aging.

You can live a healthy, fulfilling life at any age.

You are responsible for how you handle the aging process. Doctors can only do so much.

The rate of aging is related to lifestyle, attitude and genetics.

Physiological and psychological conditions are more powerful than chronological age.

People do not age at the same rate or have the same conditions. It is an individualized process.

When it comes to winning at the game of aging, it doesn’t matter who you are—it matters what you do.

Aging is a bitch. Respect, study, and understand the beast, or she will take away your quality of life.

Before we get started on understanding how to play the sport of aging, believe it or not, there are perks to getting older. If you remember playing your sport, there were hard, challenging times, but there were also amazing fun times that we all cherished. And those experiences were worth the challenge and the hard work.

Here are perks of aging that most of us will experience. Use these for motivation when the going gets tough.

People over 50 tend to be happier that their younger counterparts.

As we age, we tend to live more in the present moment than obsessing about the future. We don’t care to think about where we will be in 10, 20, 30 years.

We no longer care what people think and stop trying to please others. If I want to paint my nails all different colors or wear my shirts inside out, so be it!

We have more time to finally figure out what we want to do instead of what other people want us to do.

We appreciate life and enjoy things we never even noticed before when we were young and too busy.

We have life experience that guides us in making important decisions and we are great resources to others; In other words, we are wiser because we have been there and done that!

We no longer have to raise our children. Instead, we are there to support and offer free advice.

If we are lucky enough to have grandchildren, we can love them, play with them, spoil them, and give them back.

We can have more fun and not be concerned about looking immature. We already grew up and now we can be like a kid again!

Seniors get great discounts.

If you take care of yourself, you won’t look your age and will be happy to shock people when they ask you how old you are. Be proud of your age. My dad is the poster child for 90 years young.

We are lucky to be able to live a long life. Look at all of our friends who didn’t make it.